The invention relates to apparatus for holding a roll of paper, such as toilet paper or kitchen towel paper, and more particularly to a wallmounted device with retractable spring-loaded plungers for engaging the two ends of the roll.
Various configurations of roll paper holders have been suggested in the prior art. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 515,849, 1,523,491, 2,500,514, 2,879,012, 2,905,404, 2,978,197, and 3,878,998. Springs of different forms have commonly been used on roll paper holders such as toilet paper holders. Of the above cited patents, Sarro U.S. Pat. No. 2,879,012 and Lazzari U.S. Pat. No. 3,878,998 are perhaps the most pertinent to the present invention. Both show spring-loaded paper roll engagers which yield when the paper roll is pushed in, then nest in the ends of the roll. The Sarro patent shows a somewhat crude form of spring loading provided through springable bending of a pair of metal arms, and the patent shows rounded, generally hemispherical roll end engagers. The Lazzari patent shows angled planar surfaces on spring-loaded plungers, again for nesting in the ends of the roll.
Neither of these patents combined the simplicity and effectiveness of the present invention. The Sarro device, in two different embodiments, is relatively simple but uses a less controllable form of spring, the bendable spring arms. In fact, the Sarro paper holder as disclosed relies upon manual spreading of the springable arms for insertion and removal of the roll of paper. The Lazzari paper holder, with compression coil springs engaging the plungers, was more sophisticated but required orientation of the angled-faced plungers, since rotation away from the direction the paper was to be inserted would have made the holder inoperable. Also, the plungers had relatively sharp edges which would tend to dig into the ends of the rolled paper, particularly of soft paper such as toilet paper. Further, the oriented biased surfaces of the plungers would not permit removal of the paper roll toward the same direction from which it was inserted.
None of the paper holding devices of the prior art exhibited the simplicity and efficiency of the present invention described below.